Nearby Theaters

Designed by Edmonton architect William Blakey, the Roxy Theatre opened as a neighborhood movie house on October 13th, 1938. Purchased by Odeon Suburban Theatres in 1941, it was renovated by Rule, Wynn, Rule Architects in 1955. After many years as a movie house, in 1988 the theatre began running a live performance called the Roxy Music Hall Variety Show.

In 1989, the Roxy Theatre became the home of the Theatre Network repertory company, which has gradually been renovating and upgrading the house for its live performances. Seating has been reduced from the 486 it had as a movie house. Theatre Network continued to operate the Roxy Theatre with its “Live at the Roxy” series until January 13, 2015 when the theatre was destroyed by fire.

The Roxy was never owned by Odeon. It was built by an investor (the mayor of Hanna,a small central Alberta town, named Shaker. He built 3 theatres in Edmonton (Varscona, Avenue and Roxy)(Shaker also built Broadway Saskatoon as well and operated Capitol and the drive-in in Hanna). Early on he leased all 3 Edmonton theatres to Odeon.

Odeon gave up the leases on all 3 in the early 1980s. Shaker’s estate sold the theatres to a local investment company. They were leased by Famous Players for a short time. Following that, the landlord began operated all 3 theatres under the banner “Inner City Cinemas” as repertory cinemas; the picture would start at one theatre, move to the next after 3 days, then to the next. An interesting concept.

The landlord sold the Varscona for demolition and rented the Roxy to Magic Lantern Theatres who operated it as the “$2 Roxy” in the mid 1980s, operating as a repertory or “calendar house”. That didn’t prove financially viable and so the landlord donated the building to Theatre Network for conversion into a playhouse in the late 1980s.

Sadly, the Roxy Theatre was destroyed by a fire on the morning of Tuesday, January 13, 2015. Edmontonians and the local arts community have been fundraising and volunteering to get the Theatre Network into a new home.